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Chapter 337 part 2

The western sky is filled with crimson clouds that promise a sunny tomorrow.
Beneath them, a city surrounded by high walls casts long black shadows.

(I managed to return before the sun went down today.)

Old Lady, a B-class knight owned by the merchant guild. I let her walk into the shadows and wait for the gate to open in front of the east gate of the royal capital.

(But to think that there was a nest this close to the royal capital. Thank goodness we found it.)

Today, as always, I’m working hard to exterminate the magic beasts along the highway.
Even though the Kingdom and the Empire have set their borders, the area outside of the city and the roads is still the domain of the magic beasts. No matter how many we defeat or repel, they will never stop coming.
Incidentally, the 『Nest』 is one of the ant-type magic beasts that attacked the merchants carrying sugar to the royal capital yesterday. 『Coult it be…』, I thought, so I went into the forest and really found one. I continued my pursuit, and as a result, I arrived at the nest.

(If I had been late, they would have swallowed at least a village.)

It is easy to forget when you are in the royal capital, but it is not uncommon for settlements to disappear from the map.

(Since I exterminate them so thoroughly, I think we’ll be okay for a while.)

I, taking advantage of the lack of human presence, filled up E-rank magic power, one rank above F, and shot light arrows into the ground many times.
The materials that are derived from magical beasts called “drops”. There should be no survivors, including the queen because I dug deep into the ground as if I did not need such things.

「I’m back.」

The Knight’s hangar of the Kingdom merchant guild that’s located near the east gate. After walking the Old Lady in there, I get off to the ground with a wooden ladder.
I head over and called out to my work partner, Herbivore Mechanic.

「By the way, is there any complaints about yesterday’s case?」

When I had finished reporting on today’s work, I asked him nervously.
I was met with reproachful stares after I exterminated the ant-like magic beasts that had stuck their heads into the cargo.

(I know it’s faster to take them out by hand, but you know, it hurts if I get bitten.)

Because my magic manipulation was too high that I also shares a sense of pain with the Knights, I had to smash their heads with the butt of my cane rifle before I removed it.

『We lost a cargo we didn’t need to lose because of the incompetence of the merchant guild’s Knight.』

I was worried they will make such claims and submit it to the guild.

「Well, if we talk about whether there was any or not, then… there is, but it’s not a problem really.」

The thin young man, spinning a pen with his fingertips, answered with a calm expression on his face.
It seems that a fat old man had come yelling at the merchants guild headquarters in the morning with steam coming out of his head.
His blood pressure was still high when the summoned Herbivore Mechanic arrived from the hangar.

「He was the owner of a caravan, and he had arrived in the royal capital first.」

They were traveling ahead in a small, fast golem carriage and were proceeding with their business dealings.
The owner, who cursed himself for his misfortune of being attacked by a magical beast and thanked God that the cargo was not totally destroyed, was angered when he heard about the situation from his servants.
He took his servant as a witness and accused the Old Lady of negligence.

「The deputy guild leader and myself. In addition, the big merchants who were present in the guild inspected the claim.」

Herbivore Mechanic’s words, the figure of Santa Claus, a man with a long white beard floated in my mind.

「The conclusion everyone came to was, 『He did his best without any mistakes』. So please don’t worry.」

The time from launching the distress signal to rushing in and exterminating the swarm of small magic beasts. Considering this, they decided that there was nothing better that could be done.
Normally, it is a 『It is already a godsend if your life is saved.』 situation.

(Even though they’re ants, they’re as fast and as strong as humans.)

Although I said small, their size is about the size of a large dog.

『Cut the golem horse from the carriage and see if some of the people on its back can get away with it.』

That must be how things went.
For the troublesome last part, it seems the other merchants said something like 『Leave it to the specialist. Amateurs should just shut up and stop talking nonsense』.

「This is the result of the accumulation of your accomplishments to date, Tauro-san. Something like that is to be expected.」

Herbivore Mechanic continued proudly while puffing out his chest.

『No matter which country you go, you will never find a Knight who kills magic beasts as skillfully as he does.』

Thankfully, that’s what everyone’s opinion of the Old Lady and me seems to be.
For that reason, it seems that me hitting the ants with the rifle and picking them up after was taken as 『There’s a reason for him to do so』.
The sugar merchants backed down, albeit reluctantly, as the top management of the leading merchants were all agree with that opinion.

「……Some things do change, doesn’t it?」

Herbivore Mechanic sighed loudly and said in an emotional tone of voice.

「People used to say 『merchant guild’s Knight is useless』 all the time.」

Apparently, when the former pilot was still working here, he was often mocked for his incompetence.

「It’s not uncommon for the Old Lady to be destroyed fighting against a magic beast and we have to go to retrieve it」

Except for C-class Knights, Old Lady falls into the small Knight category. That said, it’s still a 17 meters tall Knight.
You will probably need a cart with several large golem horses to get it back to the royal capital.

「Since we pulled it through the highway, it was in the way of traffic. So, merchants and adventurers passing by would hurl words at us as we passed by.」

It would be like a carrier car, transporting multiple cars. If they’re messing up the highway by passing by multiple times and for a long time, it’s no wonder that people would say that.

「There was even a time when we were attacked by a medium-sized magic beast. That was a tough time.」

I can only imagine.
Even though the previous pilot had many problems, Old Lady is a B-class Knight. Putting aside struggling against a medium-sized magical beast, it was unacceptable for her to be rendered inoperable by it.

「No matter how much he was asked, he never want to tell what had defeated him. I guess he wanted to blame it on some random large magical beast, but if he did that, it would have been officially reported to the government.」

Herbivore Mechanic said while sighing repeatedly.
Certainly, there would be an uproar if someone said something like, 『I was knocked down by a Heavy Lancer』 near a human village. When the lie is discovered, the pilot will be held accountable.

「But we are professionals too, so we know. I’m going to say it now, but that was definitely a 『Swamp Boar』. And it was just one of them at that!」

Swamp boar is a medium-sized magic beast that lives in low marshy areas, scavenging the ground, eating trees and grassroots.
I’ve dealt with one myself, and to be honest, I don’t think it’s not something that can be dealt with the strength of a B-class alone.

「So what happened?」

When I tilt my head and ask, Herbivore Mechanic shrugs his shoulders.

「I asked him a few times, and he got upset and exploded in the middle of the conversation. Those were really rough times.」

The slender young man stared off into the distance with a tone as if he had grown old.
I felt sympathy for him and a sense of fulfillment that I had helped to turn that into 『 just a memory』.